SPE: care to join us?
"Sprawl"
46th SPE National Conference
Dallas, Texas
March 26 - 29, 2009
Margaret M. Stratton, 2009 Conference Chair
Susan kae Grant and Kenda North, 2009 Local Committee Chairs
Terri Warpinski, 2009 Conference Committee Chair
The city of Dallas provides an informative and imaginative backdrop for the conference theme. Like other metropolitan areas since the 1960s, Dallas has seen suburban sprawl reshape its civic geography and identity. Sprawl then is a physical manifestation of civic growth and population migration, housing developments and ‘big-box’ retail parks. But the concept of sprawl also prompts discussions of environmental conservation, the appropriate use of land and resources, the loss and/or renewal of city centers and close-knit neighborhood communities.
Cultural depictions of sprawl have long been a mainstay in popular culture, including the 1970s photo movement New Topographics, William Gibson’s cyberpunk fiction, the music of Sonic Youth, and in TV shows, such as “Weeds,” with its ‘burb’-inspired theme song “Little Boxes.” Sprawl—suburban landscape and life—serves as both cultural inspiration and critique.
